Tong calls for more Stamford school renovations

Rob Varnon

Updated 9:53 pm, Wednesday, August 28, 2013

STAMFORD -- Democratic mayoral hopeful William Tong pledged Wednesday to rebuild aging schools and make Stamford the "best urban district in the country."

Tong, a state representative in the 147th District, drew more than 25 people to the Harry Bennett Branch at the Ferguson Library Wednesday to participate in a panel discussing with parents, a few Board of Education members and other experts from the district and nonprofit sectors.

He said he knows it will cost money and as mayor, it will be his job to make cuts in other areas to fund education and building improvement. Tong also said he has the ear of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the city's former mayor who endorsed Tong in the race. And he is also well connected in the Legislature to help Stamford get more state money. The representative also wants to tap private companies like General Electric and go after federal grants as well.

After the event, Tong said he couldn't pledge to not cut anything from the school budget, saying he hasn't looked at it line by line, yet.

"We're not prepared for that," he said.

If elected, he pledged to dedicate one month getting to know every school in the district during his first 20 months in office so he can produce a list of what each school needs. He and the panel of experts said it was important to think about Stamford Schools as the city's most important asset.

And a large part of Wednesday's discussion centered on the achievement gap in the schools, though that was never defined during the talk. Stamford Hispanic, black and non-English fluent students typically lag behind their white and Asian peers on standardized tests by double digits in Stamford.

Tong and his panel acknowledged that it won't be easy to improve the schools and that some opportunities have been lost.

Board of Education Member Jackie Heftman said the city cut back on its building renovation projects during the last several year when interest rates were at their lowest and Stamford could have borrowed at an advantageous rate.

"We need a mayor who will commit to building," she said.

Several parents at the meeting agreed.

Another Board of Education member Richard Lyons II said the city also missed out on getting some of the best prices on materials and labor in decades, as well.

Interest rates have been going up in the country and labor costs for construction have been increasing due to an improving economy and a lack of workers. When the recession hit the state in 2008, more than 25 percent of construction workers were put out of work, according to the state Labor Department. As the economy has healed, some contractors have reported having difficulty filling positions because many of those workers have left the state or gone into other fields.

The friendly crowd at the library agreed with much Tong and the other panelists said, though one woman noted after more than an hour of discussion, the group had failed to provide a way to measure what it means to be the best school district.